DUMP TACKLE Why Leah Lyons was right to challenge her troll

Which one are you when attacked verbally? Turn the other cheek? Or an eye for any eye? Here is why Aisling O'Loughlin believes rugby pro Leah Lyons was right to hit back at a fan shouting abuse from the stalls...

March 5, 2018

Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. Fair enough Mark Twain…but sometimes turning the other cheek just feels too weak. I cheered, glass eyed, into my computer screen this week on reading the response from Irish rugby player Leah Lyons to some pea-brain in the crowd who called her a heifer from the stands during their victory over Wales last weekend.

Leah Lyons: Used Twitter to hit back at an aggressive ‘fan’ following Ireland’s win over Wales

On Twitter she wrote:

“Poor choice of wording in the crowd (Irish) yesterday… Heifer in relating to myself.You are seated three rows away from my family, who heard you and surrounded by young children – girls and boys – who are all shapes and sizes. Rugby is a game for all. No one is perfect, I realise I’m an example of that, but have a bit of respect! Good to hear that someone in the crowd gave you a flake of a flag and told you to be quiet. Ain’t got nothing good to say, say nothing at all.”

Bravo Leah! That’s the spirit. Frankly I’ve always been more of an eye for an eye Old Testament type. You wanna pick a fight with me, jump in the ring. Gloves off. Recently I had the great pleasure of telling some prat on Twitter to Fuck off after he sent an unwarranted lump of vitriol my way.

After 16 years watching my words on a corporate payroll, it felt sooooo good. It felt like freedom.

Helen Mirren was right when imparting her life lessons from the perspective of a 70 year old: ‘If I could give my younger self one piece of advice it would be to use the word fuck off much more frequently.’

Frankly, those silent types who say nowt are dangerous. They’re wimps. We all know that quote from the 18th century Irish philosopher Edmund Burke: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and wimmin) to do nothing’. If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention you yellow bellied invertebrates.

GBS: Sounds so pristine and elegant but George Bernard Shaw got it catastrophically wrong regarding Hitler and Stalin so cannot be trusted as sage advice in hindsight

Of course you’ve got to pick your battles rather than pick fights but a firm smack down, when appropriate, should be encouraged, rather than the usual meeky mouse advice to ignore.

George Bernard Shaw may have said, ‘Do not wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it’.

Sounds like great advice Bernard but weren’t you grossly wrong about Hitler and Stalin? Not such a know it all after all. Goes to show we should be entirely suspicious of these namby pamby quotes that can be so misleading, yet so eloquently delivered.

I remember confronting a well known person about a nasty email sent to that entertainment show I used to work for, regarding a beauty report I did with her competitor. It wasn’t supposed to reach everyone on the show, but it did. When I asked her face to face, what was the story with the email, she looked shocked and told me her email had been hacked, opening her arms for a hug. I hugged her, reader, with a slow pat on the back. Sometimes brazenness wins out.